Policy Idling within the "Fuzziness-Conflict" Framework: A Case Study of the Funeral Reform in City Z, Gansu Province

Abstract

In the field of public policy research, policy idling is closely related to funeral reform and holds great research value. Currently, the academic community has achieved certain results regarding policy idling, delving deeply into its concept, causes, impacts, and coping strategies. However, there is still room for improvement in existing research, such as in the perfection of the policy evaluation system and the analysis of differences in policy idling across different regions. As a crucial issue in the process of modernization, funeral reform faces distinctly different yet equally complex problems in rural and urban areas. In rural areas, farmers have a low acceptance of the modern funeral system, and the reform has triggered group conflicts, resulting in poor effectiveness. In urban areas, traditional funerals conflict with urban management, and the marketization of the funeral industry brings new opportunities and challenges. Taking the funeral reform in City Z, Gansu Province as a starting point, this paper uses Matland's "Fuzziness-Conflict" model to conduct an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of policy idling. The study finds that the ambiguity of policy objectives is one of the important factors leading to policy idling. In the funeral reform of City Z, although the general objectives such as saving land resources and protecting the environment are clear, there are many ambiguous areas in the implementation details. For example, regarding the illegal act of reburying ashes in coffins, there is a lack of clear and accurate definition standards, and there is no strict punishment mechanism, making it difficult to stop such illegal acts. As a result, the core goal of saving land through the cremation reform is difficult to achieve. In terms of changing the funeral customs, the policy also lacks a systematic plan and specific implementation paths, making it difficult to guide the public to change their traditional funeral concepts. At the same time, implementation conflicts have exacerbated policy idling. In terms of interest conflicts, there is a sharp contradiction between the local traditional concept of "the deceased should be respected and laid to rest in the soil" and the funeral reform policy, and the public has a strong resistance. Cemetery contractors and managers pursue their own interests and ignore the public welfare objectives of the funeral reform. In terms of resource conflicts, the funeral infrastructure is located in remote areas with inconvenient transportation, which does not meet the public's demand for convenient funeral services. The unreasonable cemetery planning leads to low land use efficiency and fails to achieve the goal of saving land resources. In addition, the insufficient policy fit makes it difficult for the policy to be effectively implemented, further increasing the risk of policy idling.